Niki is a former early years teacher and current stay-at-home mum to her two children; Ethan (4 ½) and Ivy (2 ½). Originally from Canada, Niki has lived in the UK for the past 13 years. She writes about learning through play with games, activities, crafts and fun over on Play & Learn Every Day!

What were your first thoughts when the product arrived?

The Pretend and Play School Set comes well packaged in a box with clear photos of what is inside, so Ethan was excited straight away as he knew that it was a school set!

Was the product easy to assemble?

We pulled the school set out of the box, unfolded it and it was ready to play with! It makes such a nice change to not be having to put things together before the children can play, they just started straight away.

How did you use the product?

My little boy is starting school soon so this toy was perfect to help prepare him through pretend play. We took turns pretending to be the teacher and leading the others in a school day. It gave Ethan the chance to ask lots of questions and to become familiar with the routine of a school day.

What are the benefits of the resource?

It is fantastic for helping children to understand what happens at school through play, it is a great teaching tool and can be used to find out what might be happening at school as well.

What did you like/dislike about the resource?

We love everything about the school set. It is extremely well made, easy to store as it folds up flat, it comes with everything that you need to play and can be played with by the children on their own or with an adult.

What is the long term appeal of the resource?

This school set will be fun to play with for years to come for all sorts of pretend play as the children grow older. We can use it to help teach them concepts that they’re working on at school or work on social issues as well.

Is the product unique?

The school set is unique, I certainly haven’t seen any other sets that have all of the essential elements of a school day and are so well set up.